8 Very Practical Digital Marketing Tips for Small Businesses
We get it. Running a small business is time-consuming. On top of managing orders and/or clients, basic customer service, and day-to-day admin tasks, you also need to “get the word out there” about your product or service. We’re sure you’re thinking, “What small business owner actually has time to digitally market their service?”
Digital marketing is defined as, “the promotion of brands to connect with potential customers using the internet and other forms of digital communication including but not limited to: email, text, social media, and web-based advertising as a marketing channel.”
As you can see, in today’s day and age, the options for marketing your business online are endless. So – how do you know which digital marketing avenue is right for YOUR small business?
Today, we’re sharing 8 practical digital marketing tips for your small business that actually work. Let’s get into it.
Know Your Audience
“If you’re talking to everyone, you’re talking to no one.”
As a small business, we’re sure that you’re familiar with the marketing concept of “knowing your audience.” This means, before you market anything online, it’s important to know who it is that you’re trying to reach.
For example, if you’re a vegan bakery selling yummy baked goods to the local community, it’s unlikely that you would target “meat eaters” for your next ad campaign. Similarly, if you’re a local bookstore advertising an end-of-year book sale, you’re probably not going to go to your local Game Stop and pay for ad space to get in front of their audience.
This is known as your demographic. When it comes to digital marketing online, the “pool of people” available to see your advertisement goes from your local community to potentially anyone in the world that has an internet connection.
When you’re marketing online, be sure that your tone, branding, and demographic are in line with the type of people you are trying to reach, and ultimately sell to. This not only maximizes your marketing dollars, but ensures that your advertisement (whether that’s an organic piece of digital content or a flyer you’re passing out in your local neighborhood) gets in front of the right people at the right time without wasting your budget.
2. Pick Your Niche & Get Good At It
Your “niche: is defined as: a specialized segment of the market for a particular kind of product or service. Knowing what your business does really well, is not only going to help you stand out in your local community, but when you market your product or service online.
For example, if you're a personal trainer looking to build up your clientele using online marketing, identifying yourself as a “personal trainer” might be too broad and attract the wrong people. We always encourage our clients to imagine a persona (the aspect of someone's character that is presented to or perceived by others).
In this instance, maybe instead of being a “personal trainer” you’re a “personal trainer who helps new moms exercise at home with little to no equipment.” Your niche does not necessarily have to be THAT specific, but the more specific you are, the faster your business will grow online because you’re not only attracting the right kind of people, but you’re also working with the algorithms that are very focused on delivering content to the right people using personal information such as their interests (in this case, moms who exercise), and other similar accounts they follow related to what you do.
Getting really clear on WHO you help, HOW you help them, and what makes YOUR service different online is a very easy way to break through the noise and market to your ideal customer.
3. Know What Makes YOUR Small Business Special & Advertise It
One thing we love about small businesses is their ability to really personalize what they advertise to their select group of customers or clients. For example, one advertising technique we see a lot in small businesses is handwritten cards. There is something really special about receiving a handwritten note in today’s digital age.
In this instance, if you’re a local shop looking to build a presence online, maybe something as simple as including a handwritten note with a QR code to your social medias could immensely impact the traffic that you’re getting on your current social channels.
Including a handwritten note with a QR code to your socials is one of many ways to make your small business stand out from other large businesses that might not have the ability to have that kind of personal touch. This is just one example of how being a small business is a huge selling point for some customers looking for this kind of relationship with the businesses they choose to purchase from.
As we discussed in the previous tip, knowing who your ideal client is and targeting them using unique advertising is really amazing way to get in front of the right people, at the right time, and increase revenue, which ultimately will cover that initial marketing investment.
4. Pick Your Social Platform
“The expert knows more and more about less and less until he knows everything about nothing.”
The next best social media platform just rolled out. Do you sign up? Do you need to add yet another social media account to your marketing strategy? How are you going to optimize your time on all of these platforms?
We are digital marketers at heart, and we know how overwhelming it can feel to be on every platform, creating content, and, well – still running your business. From our experience, we strongly believe that getting really good at one platform is the key to having a presence on all platforms.
What type of content do you enjoy creating? Long-form or short-form? Video or written copy? Pick your platforms and post consistently on that platform. Your strategy should always be value-driven content. Meaning, how does this piece of content help the viewer AND relate back to your business? This is how you will retain your audience and build a presence online without burning yourself out. Eventually, that content can be repurposed in other places – but you have to get really good at your first platform, before expanding out.
5. Stay Consistent Online
Consistency is key when it comes to marketing online, especially on social media. Pick your frequency and commit to that frequency for the rest of your online marketing efforts. It’s like this – imagine that your favorite Netflix show releases a new episode every Tuesday at 8:30 pm. How would it make you feel if out of nowhere your favorite series did not post its new episode?
We are sure that you would first off, be quite upset that your show was not airing, and second, you would likely lose trust in Netflix, and the series because they said they were going to show up and they didn’t.
If a series is posting consistently, we expect it to post consistently throughout its season. That’s why it’s super important to stay consistent. Even if viewers are not engaging with your content, they are watching.
Statistically, a prospect needs to see an advertiser's message at least 7 times before they'll take action to buy that product or service. Seven times! That’s A LOT.
Meaning, even if it seems like your content is not doing well, people are watching, which is why it’s so important that you stay consistent so you not only earn your viewer’s trust, but potentially a sale or new client from simply sharing what you’re already doing day-to-day in your business.
6. 80/20 Rule of Marketing
The 80/20 rule in marketing suggests that 80% of social media posts should be useful to your audience — meaning, educational, inspirational, or entertaining – only 20% of your online posts should explicitly promote your business. Keep this in mind when you’re making your social media content calendar.
You know your business the best. What type of content would YOU find engaging? Post that. There is a strategy that goes into social media posting, but this is the basics of it. MP Media does help with an array of services including social media management. You can learn more about our services here or reach out with questions. We do offer free consultations.
7. Short Form Video is Dominating Online Marketing
TikTok took over the world in 2020, and so did short-form videos. We’re sure that you’ve seen it all over, not only your social feeds, but online, as well. Google anything in a search engine (i.e Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.) and we guarantee the top of your search results will include a relevant short-form video before any long-form content is presented.
Short-form video is dominating the online market right now which is why it’s really important you incorporate this into your marketing strategy. Whether that’s a 30-sec talking head video, or a beautifully edited and produced short-form reel – viewers online expect it and it’s important that you incorporate it into your marketing strategy.
8. Don’t Underestimate a Positive Review on Google for Your SEO Efforts
Our last marketing tip of the week is to not underestimate the power of a positive review! In case no one has told you, Google reviews in particular are a huge factor that will affect the ranking of your website online.
For example, let’s say that you’re a local restaurant. When a potential customer googles, “restaurants near me” it’s unlikely that they will search through pages and pages of Google to find your restaurant if your restaurant is not ranking on page one of Google.
Google will actually rank the restaurants near that person based on positive reviews. Meaning, a restaurant with 0 reviews that everyone in that local community loves is going to rank much lower than an average restaurant with a 3.0 average ranking.
Don’t be shy about asking your customers or clients for reviews. This will immensely increase your exposure online, and potentially help bring in more business without paying a single dollar in ads. Hello, we love free marketing!
Not to mention, people absolutely love sharing their opinion. Giving your customers the opportunity to do that isn’t the worst thing (at least we hope..). If you’re struggling to get reviews, incentivize your community to leave a review with discounts, free products, and more. The reward for this is potentially unlimited.
That sums up this week’s marketing topic. MP Media is here to help your small business get seen online, for less. We know that marketing can not only be overwhelming, but expensive. You can learn more about our products and services on our Services page.
We can’t wait to see you rocking your next online marketing campaign. See you next week!
